1884 United States presidential election in Michigan
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November 4, 1884
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All 13 Michigan votes to the Electoral College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results
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| Elections in Michigan |
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The 1884 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 4, 1884, as part of the 1884 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13[1] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Benjamin Butler received the nominations of both the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties in Michigan. Butler initially hoped to organize fusion tickets with the minority party in each state in the election, a strategy designed to capitalize on the cross-partisan popularity of many elements of the candidate's program. The Greenbacks succeeded in negotiating fusion arrangements with the Democratic Party in Michigan, wherein they were balloted separately but shared 12 of the state's 13 electors. The fusion electors agreed to divide their votes between Butler and Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in proportion to the statewide popular vote for each candidate, had their combined vote been sufficient to achieve a plurality in the state.[2][3]
Michigan was won by the Republican nominee James G. Blaine over Cleveland and Butler in a close race by only 3,308 votes, a margin of less than 1%.[4]
Barry and Newaygo counties have voted Democratic only once since this election, in 1964.
Results
[edit]| Party | Pledged to | Elector | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | Dwight Cutler | 192,669 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | James McMillan | 192,641 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | George H. French | 192,625 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | Lorenzo A. Barker | 192,623 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | Charles W. Wells | 192,621 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | Josephus Smith | 192,618 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | George W. Jenks | 192,613 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | Seth McLean | 192,613 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | Joseph B. Moore | 192,597 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | William S. Wilcox | 192,565 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | John Duncan | 192,522 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | J. Eastman Johnson | 192,336 | |
| Republican Party | James G. Blaine | George G. Steketee | 192,128 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland[c] | Andrew Harshaw | 189,361 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Herman Goeschel | 189,294 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Aaron S. Dykeman | 189,290 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Wildman Mills | 189,244 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Frederick H. Carnahan | 189,152 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | John R. Savage | 188,654 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Hiram O. Rose | 188,574 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Alfred L. Millard | 188,554 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | William D. Thompson | 188,554 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | Alexander K. Kelsey | 188,479 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | William B. Moran | 187,924 | |
| Fusion | Grover Cleveland | John J. Watkins | 186,927 | |
| Democratic Party | Grover Cleveland | Jonathan W. Flanders | 149,835[d] | |
| Greenback Party | Benjamin Butler | Moses W. Field | 41,490[e] | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | John Russell | 18,403 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Oscar M. Brownson | 18,403 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Thomas A. Granger | 18,403 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Emory A. Richards | 18,402 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Samuel Dickey | 18,400 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Brent Harding | 18,400 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Darius H. Stone | 18,400 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Henry Davis | 18,398 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Frank B. Cressey | 18,389 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Guernsey P. Waring | 18,376 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Benjah W. Warren | 18,104 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | George Atchison | 17,982 | |
| Prohibition Party | John St. John | Moses Mix | 17,740 | |
| Straight Butler | Benjamin Butler | Charles Benton | 753 | |
| Straight Butler | Benjamin Butler | Charles Benton | 746 | |
| Straight Butler | Benjamin Butler | Charles H. Stone | 716 | |
| Straight Butler | Benjamin Butler | Charles H. Williams | 706 | |
| Straight Butler | Benjamin Butler | John D. Cotharin | 550 | |
| Straight Butler | Benjamin Butler | Jonathan P. Hinshaw | 540 | |
| Write-in | Scattering | 40 | ||
| Blank | 46 | |||
| Votes cast[f] | 401,272 | |||
Results by county
[edit]The fusion between the Democrats and Greenbackers presents difficulties when interpreting the results. On one hand, it would be easy to use the votes for Flanders and Field separately for Cleveland and Butler, respectively. This does cause Butler to appear to have run ahead of both Cleveland and Blaine in Arenac County, for instance. However, splitting the Cleveland and Butler votes in this manner masks how close the election actually was; the Republican electors only narrowly ran ahead of the 12 Fusion electors by about 3,300 votes. Using Flanders' figures for Cleveland makes it falsely appear that Blaine easily won the state by double digits. Additionally, the combined total for Flanders and Field exceeds that of the highest fusion elector (Harshaw), although it is still less than that of the lowest Republican elector (Steketee). The 1885 Michigan Manual lists the county results for all three of Harshaw, Flanders, and Field, with a note implying that the results for the latter two are to be interpreted separately from the rest. Based on the split between Democratic and Greenbacker vote, had the Fusion ticket been elected, the electoral votes from Michigan likely would have been nine for Cleveland, three for Butler, and one for Blaine.[g]
| County[5][7] | James G. Blaine Republican |
Grover Cleveland Fusion |
John St. John Prohibition |
Benjamin Butler Greenback |
Margin | Total votes cast[f] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alcona | 545 | 61.51% | 339 | 38.26% | 1 | 0.11% | 1 | 0.11% | 206 | 23.25% | 886 |
| Allegan | 4,080 | 48.27% | 3,445 | 40.75% | 927 | 10.97% | 1 | 0.01% | 635 | 7.51% | 8,453 |
| Alpena | 927 | 43.87% | 1,127 | 53.34% | 59 | 2.79% | 0 | 0.00% | -200 | -9.47% | 2,113 |
| Antrim | 1,066 | 58.44% | 721 | 39.53% | 37 | 2.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 345 | 18.91% | 1,824 |
| Arenac | 323 | 31.95% | 607 | 60.04% | 44 | 4.35% | 37 | 3.66% | -284 | -28.09% | 1,011 |
| Baraga | 396 | 56.33% | 307 | 43.67% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 89 | 12.66% | 703 |
| Barry | 2,699 | 44.71% | 2,937 | 48.65% | 401 | 6.64% | 0 | 0.00% | -238 | -3.94% | 6,037 |
| Bay | 2,916 | 35.15% | 4,963 | 59.83% | 161 | 1.94% | 255 | 3.07% | -2,047 | -24.68% | 8,295 |
| Benzie | 556 | 54.89% | 380 | 37.51% | 77 | 7.60% | 0 | 0.00% | 176 | 17.37% | 1,013 |
| Berrien | 4,445 | 48.02% | 4,458 | 48.16% | 345 | 3.73% | 0 | 0.00% | -13 | -0.14% | 9,256[h] |
| Branch | 3,671 | 52.08% | 2,958 | 41.96% | 419 | 5.94% | 1 | 0.01% | 713 | 10.11% | 7,049 |
| Calhoun | 5,113 | 51.20% | 4,309 | 43.15% | 564 | 5.65% | 0 | 0.00% | 804 | 8.05% | 9,986 |
| Cass | 2,764 | 48.25% | 2,744 | 47.90% | 216 | 3.77% | 5 | 0.09% | 20 | 0.35% | 5,729 |
| Charlevoix | 1,043 | 54.21% | 825 | 42.88% | 56 | 2.91% | 0 | 0.00% | 218 | 11.33% | 1,924 |
| Cheboygan | 777 | 45.33% | 897 | 52.33% | 40 | 2.33% | 0 | 0.00% | -120 | -7.00% | 1,714 |
| Chippewa | 686 | 51.12% | 635 | 47.32% | 21 | 1.56% | 0 | 0.00% | 51 | 3.80% | 1,342 |
| Clare | 622 | 46.21% | 685 | 50.89% | 34 | 2.53% | 5 | 0.37% | -63 | -4.68% | 1,346 |
| Clinton | 2,782 | 44.03% | 3,220 | 50.96% | 315 | 4.98% | 2 | 0.03% | -438 | -6.93% | 6,319 |
| Crawford | 304 | 56.72% | 223 | 41.60% | 9 | 1.68% | 0 | 0.00% | 81 | 15.11% | 536 |
| Delta | 1,201 | 66.13% | 609 | 33.54% | 6 | 0.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 592 | 32.60% | 1,816 |
| Eaton | 4,106 | 49.37% | 3,717 | 44.69% | 494 | 5.94% | 0 | 0.00% | 389 | 4.68% | 8,317 |
| Emmet | 779 | 43.79% | 895 | 50.31% | 105 | 5.90% | 0 | 0.00% | -116 | -6.52% | 1,779 |
| Genesee | 4,328 | 48.14% | 3,657 | 40.68% | 1,005 | 11.18% | 0 | 0.00% | 671 | 7.46% | 8,990 |
| Gladwin | 288 | 55.49% | 213 | 41.04% | 0 | 0.00% | 18 | 3.47% | 75 | 14.45% | 519 |
| Grand Traverse | 1,645 | 64.59% | 808 | 31.72% | 94 | 3.69% | 0 | 0.00% | 837 | 32.86% | 2,547 |
| Gratiot | 2,676 | 46.99% | 2,736 | 48.04% | 283 | 4.97% | 0 | 0.00% | -60 | -1.05% | 5,695 |
| Hillsdale | 4,315 | 52.80% | 3,222 | 39.43% | 629 | 7.70% | 6 | 0.07% | 1,093 | 13.37% | 8,172 |
| Houghton | 2,383 | 57.90% | 1,694 | 41.16% | 39 | 0.95% | 0 | 0.00% | 689 | 16.74% | 4,116 |
| Huron | 1,355 | 39.48% | 1,898 | 55.30% | 179 | 5.22% | 0 | 0.00% | -543 | -15.82% | 3,432 |
| Ingham | 3,709 | 42.36% | 4,562 | 52.11% | 472 | 5.39% | 12 | 0.14% | -853 | -9.74% | 8,755 |
| Ionia | 3,552 | 45.10% | 3,814 | 48.43% | 503 | 6.39% | 7 | 0.09% | -262 | -3.33% | 7,876 |
| Iosco | 1,016 | 52.83% | 864 | 44.93% | 43 | 2.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 152 | 7.90% | 1,923 |
| Isabella | 1,617 | 48.78% | 1,610 | 48.57% | 83 | 2.50% | 5 | 0.15% | 7 | 0.21% | 3,315 |
| Jackson | 4,804 | 43.86% | 5,452 | 49.78% | 645 | 5.89% | 51 | 0.47% | -648 | -5.92% | 10,952 |
| Kalamazoo | 4,515 | 51.78% | 3,750 | 43.00% | 455 | 5.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 765 | 8.77% | 8,720 |
| Kalkaska | 630 | 60.93% | 369 | 35.69% | 35 | 3.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 261 | 25.24% | 1,034 |
| Kent | 9,007 | 45.74% | 9,639 | 48.95% | 1,040 | 5.28% | 5 | 0.03% | -632 | -3.21% | 19,691 |
| Keweenaw | 620 | 74.43% | 201 | 24.13% | 12 | 1.44% | 0 | 0.00% | 419 | 50.30% | 833 |
| Lake | 951 | 55.42% | 656 | 38.23% | 109 | 6.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 295 | 17.19% | 1,716 |
| Lapeer | 3,062 | 50.15% | 2,741 | 44.89% | 276 | 4.52% | 27 | 0.44% | 321 | 5.26% | 6,106 |
| Leelanau | 811 | 57.80% | 571 | 40.70% | 21 | 1.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 240 | 17.11% | 1,403 |
| Lenawee | 5,827 | 46.63% | 5,572 | 44.59% | 1,097 | 8.78% | 1 | 0.01% | 255 | 2.04% | 12,497 |
| Livingston | 2,597 | 44.72% | 2,938 | 50.59% | 272 | 4.68% | 0 | 0.00% | -341 | -5.87% | 5,807 |
| Mackinac | 479 | 46.06% | 558 | 53.65% | 3 | 0.29% | 0 | 0.00% | -79 | -7.60% | 1,040 |
| Macomb | 2,782 | 42.98% | 3,464 | 53.51% | 223 | 3.45% | 4 | 0.06% | -682 | -10.54% | 6,473 |
| Manistee | 1,305 | 38.46% | 1,926 | 56.76% | 162 | 4.77% | 0 | 0.00% | -621 | -18.30% | 3,393 |
| Manitou | 18 | 10.84% | 148 | 89.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -130 | -78.31% | 166 |
| Marquette | 4,230 | 73.49% | 1,478 | 25.68% | 48 | 0.83% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,752 | 47.81% | 5,756 |
| Mason | 1,299 | 50.49% | 1,217 | 47.30% | 57 | 2.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 82 | 3.19% | 2,573 |
| Mecosta | 2,365 | 53.76% | 1,847 | 41.99% | 187 | 4.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 518 | 11.78% | 4,399 |
| Menominee | 2,614 | 73.12% | 936 | 26.18% | 25 | 0.70% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,678 | 46.94% | 3,575 |
| Midland | 1,071 | 53.36% | 883 | 44.00% | 44 | 2.19% | 9 | 0.45% | 188 | 9.37% | 2,007 |
| Missaukee | 470 | 54.09% | 373 | 42.92% | 26 | 2.99% | 0 | 0.00% | 97 | 11.16% | 869 |
| Monroe | 3,025 | 41.89% | 3,920 | 54.29% | 224 | 3.10% | 51 | 0.71% | -895 | -12.39% | 7,221[i] |
| Montcalm | 3,857 | 49.32% | 3,788 | 48.43% | 173 | 2.21% | 3 | 0.04% | 69 | 0.88% | 7,821 |
| Montmorency | 93 | 38.91% | 137 | 57.32% | 9 | 3.77% | 0 | 0.00% | -44 | -18.41% | 239 |
| Muskegon | 3,483 | 49.79% | 3,171 | 45.33% | 317 | 4.53% | 25 | 0.36% | 312 | 4.46% | 6,996 |
| Newaygo | 1,971 | 46.65% | 2,051 | 48.54% | 203 | 4.80% | 0 | 0.00% | -80 | -1.89% | 4,225 |
| Oakland | 4,842 | 45.03% | 5,386 | 50.09% | 522 | 4.85% | 3 | 0.03% | -544 | -5.06% | 10,753 |
| Oceana | 1,637 | 51.04% | 1,213 | 37.82% | 357 | 11.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 424 | 13.22% | 3,207 |
| Ogemaw | 478 | 49.48% | 472 | 48.86% | 16 | 1.66% | 0 | 0.00% | 6 | 0.62% | 966 |
| Ontonagon | 301 | 53.94% | 233 | 41.76% | 24 | 4.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 68 | 12.19% | 558 |
| Osceola | 1,497 | 58.43% | 792 | 30.91% | 273 | 10.66% | 0 | 0.00% | 705 | 27.52% | 2,562 |
| Oscoda | 199 | 68.62% | 87 | 30.00% | 4 | 1.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 112 | 38.62% | 290 |
| Otsego | 485 | 52.95% | 410 | 44.76% | 21 | 2.29% | 0 | 0.00% | 75 | 8.19% | 916 |
| Ottawa | 3,758 | 53.25% | 3,049 | 43.21% | 231 | 3.27% | 5 | 0.07% | 709 | 10.05% | 7,057[j] |
| Presque Isle | 394 | 63.65% | 225 | 36.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 169 | 27.30% | 619 |
| Roscommon | 427 | 48.80% | 435 | 49.71% | 2 | 0.23% | 11 | 1.26% | -8 | -0.91% | 875 |
| Saginaw | 5,939 | 44.68% | 7,047 | 53.02% | 205 | 1.54% | 100 | 0.75% | -1,108 | -8.34% | 13,291 |
| Sanilac | 1,923 | 48.88% | 1,817 | 46.19% | 165 | 4.19% | 12 | 0.31% | 106 | 2.69% | 3,934[k] |
| Schoolcraft | 518 | 62.48% | 289 | 34.86% | 22 | 2.65% | 0 | 0.00% | 229 | 27.62% | 829 |
| Shiawassee | 2,705 | 41.71% | 3,141 | 48.43% | 623 | 9.61% | 17 | 0.26% | -436 | -6.72% | 6,486 |
| St. Clair | 4,017 | 43.99% | 4,668 | 51.12% | 348 | 3.81% | 53 | 0.58% | -651 | -7.13% | 9,132[l] |
| St. Joseph | 3,261 | 46.89% | 3,554 | 51.11% | 133 | 1.91% | 6 | 0.09% | -293 | -4.21% | 6,954 |
| Tuscola | 2,914 | 49.73% | 2,624 | 44.78% | 322 | 5.49% | 0 | 0.00% | 290 | 4.95% | 5,860 |
| Van Buren | 4,219 | 56.11% | 2,933 | 39.01% | 361 | 4.80% | 6 | 0.08% | 1,286 | 17.10% | 7,519 |
| Washtenaw | 4,049 | 40.53% | 5,315 | 53.20% | 617 | 6.18% | 9 | 0.09% | -1,266 | -12.67% | 9,990 |
| Wayne | 17,315 | 44.46% | 20,930 | 53.74% | 703 | 1.80% | 0 | 0.00% | -3,615 | -9.28% | 38,948 |
| Wexford | 1,220 | 54.81% | 876 | 39.35% | 130 | 5.84% | 0 | 0.00% | 344 | 15.45% | 2,226 |
| Total | 192,669 | 48.01% | 189,361 | 47.19% | 18,403 | 4.59% | 753 | 0.19% | 3,308 | 0.82% | 401,272 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
[edit]Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
[edit]See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ This is the total for the single Democratic elector would did not also appear on the Greenback ticket, see detailed elector results.
- ↑ This is the total for the single Greenback elector would did not also appear on the Democratic ticket, see detailed elector results.
- ↑ The Fusion electors were, in a sense, unpledged, as they planned to apportion themselves between Cleveland and Butler based on the proportion of Democratic and Greenbacker votes to the total Fusion vote.
- ↑ This represents approximately the proportion of Democratic voters within the Fusion ticket.
- ↑ Field was a well-known Greenbacker and would have voted for Butler in the Electoral College. His votes represent approximately the proportion of Greenback voters within the Fusion ticket.
- 1 2 Based on highest elector on each ticket
- ↑ Blaine would have received an electoral vote from Michigan in this case because with all electors being chosen individually at large, the top 13 candidates would be elected. With the Fusion ticket running only 12 electors, Flanders and Field would have both run well behind the Republican electors. Given the closeness of election, it would also not have been out of the realm of possibility that in a Fusion victory scenario, one or more Republican electors actually could have run ahead of the lowest Fusion electors, resulting in an even more chaotic split in Michigan's Electoral College delegation.
- ↑ Includes 8 Scattering votes
- ↑ Includes 1 Scattering vote
- ↑ Includes 14 Scattering votes
- ↑ Includes 17 Scattering votes
- ↑ Includes 46 Blank votes
References
[edit]- ↑ "1884 Election for the Twenty-Fifth Term (1885-1889)". Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- ↑ National Contest: Containing Portraits and Biographies of our National Favorites. Chicago. 1888. p. 127.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Fuller, William D. (September 25, 1884). "Butler in Michigan". Iowa Plain Dealer.
- ↑ Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (April 26, 1999). "United States Historical Election Returns, 1824-1968". doi:10.3886/ICPSR00001.v3. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- 1 2 Michigan State Archives, Statement of Votes given in the State of Michigan, for thirteen Electors of President and Vice President of the United States for the State of Michigan, at the General Election held in the said State, on Tuesday, the Fourth day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty four
- ↑ "The Official Count". The Detroit Free Press. Vol. 50, no. 66. Detroit. November 26, 1884. p. 4. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
- ↑ Conant, Harry A. (1885). Legislative Manual and Official Directory of the State of Michigan for the Year 1885. Lansing: W. S. George & Co., State Printers and Binders. pp. 424–426. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
